Strike, Fall River
Artist
Thomas Hart Benton
(American, 1889 - 1975)
Datec. 1935
MediumOil on masonite
Dimensions32 x 26 in. (81.3 x 66 cm)
ClassificationsOil Painting
Credit LineGift of the artist
Terms
Object number1975.16
DescriptionBenton traveled to Paris as a young man and experimented with Cubism and Abstraction. He was a talented musician, and at one stage of his career he believed that his paintings were the visual equivalent of music, as each form and color represented different notes or vocal ranges. Upon his return to America from Europe, he rejected non-representational art because he aspired to create a visual record of his life and times. He was a populist and a nationalist, convinced that America was the greatest country ever to exist, but he was not afraid of tackling difficult subjects. In the 1930s Fall River, Massachusetts, was experiencing the worst of the Great Depression. In the foreground, strikers are seen picketing; in the background, scabs are violating the strike. Despite the artist’s ostensible commitment to realism, he has veered toward a simplification of details and a distortion of forms that reveal his earlier dedication to abstraction. “Strike, Fall River” was a bequest to the New Britain Museum of American Art, which was his “favorite American museum” because “over the years it has been the most friendly museum for me and my efforts.” Similar works are on view in the Regionalism and Thomas Hart Benton Murals Galleries.
On View
Not on view
